Below the Surface

This Saturday the Weekend Challenge from ‘Weekly Prompts’ is The Face. Please go and visit their fabulous site by clicking >> https://weeklyprompts.com/2020/09/19/weekend-challenge-the-face/ .. And the below is my response to this weeks prompt.

Below the Surface

I’ve had thorns under my feet

And a rose between my teeth



I’m on a voyage to somewhere, and beyond

And the false façade goes on and on

Left follows right, one of us cannot be wrong

The Small Faces are singing the same old song

And the winter snake-skins have all gone

Lets face it, will I ever truly belong?



The mysterious journey never ends

Until that inevitable finale bend

George said it’s “A long and winding road”

And I’ll face life’s hard curves, unbowed




Above Artwork:  By Kerri Costello, Graphic Design Artist, my beautiful niece/second cousin, who lives in Philadelphia, she’s so very talented, and a very special person in my life, thank you Kerri.

Ivor Steven (c) Sept 2020.

Whispering Flowers

Over on Weekly Prompts the Weekend Challenge is Flower Power! Please go and visit their fabulous site by clicking >> Here . Today I’m presenting a poem of mine from a year ago, in response to the prompt…

A heartfelt thank you to ‘Fae Corps Publishing’ and ‘Pattimouse’, for publishing this special poem of mine today, a piece I wrote about “our” anniversary day… I truly appreciate your generosity and support,….. I’m feeling very special…..

Fae Corps Inc

Ivor Steven is many things. Poet, plumber, blogger… The list continues. Find him and his work at https://ivors20.wordpress.com/

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Ivor Steven (c) August 2020

Yellow Light

“How wonderful the colour yellow is. It stands for the sun!” – Vincent Van Gogh.

This weekend is the Monthly Colour Challenge for August, and the ‘Weekly Prompt’ team have chosen;  Sunshine Yellow.  Please go and visit their fabulous site by clicking > Here Below; is my response to the prompt, with attached photos and a Haiku

 

Yellow Light,  a Haiku

 

Today the sky smiled

Above golden setting sun

And the moon did shine

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  August 2020

My Scenic Saturday

The Weekend Challenge on Weekly Prompts is, Scenic. Please go over and visit their fabulous site by clicking >> Here … Below is my photographic article in response to the prompt…

My Scenic Saturday

 

After writing my daily poem in the morning, I then pottered around in my courtyard garden, however my fingers were becoming frozen from the frosty dawn, and I decided to delay the potting, until after going out for my usual Saturday coffee and cafe visit, to the scenically rural Box Office Cafe. The above photos are from my lunchtime visit today. The winter sun was starting to warm me up, and on viewing my photos, you’ll understand, (maybe), why I frequent this quaint and rustic establishment….

It was definitely a lot warmer when I arrived home. Last week a friend of mine made me two wall hanging racks out old wooden pallets. I hung them up during the week, and today was my day to fill the two pallets with plants… The below photos, were taken after I finished the potting and planting…. and I’m very pleased with the gorgeous ”scenic” outlook of my small but vibrant courtyard…

 

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  June 2020

Our World, Air For Us All

I posted this poem yesterday evening, I’m republishing today, without the ‘Links/Pingbacks’…  and I’m adding another old ‘Bee Gees’ song “Words”, which seems to be appropriate for my poem here, which basically, is only ‘words’ from my pondering thoughts.

 

 

Our World, Air For Us All

 

What grows up

Eternally falls to ground

What’s absorbed in

Eventually seeps out

 

Did you hear the sound?

The world is round

 

But is the universe a square?

As we struggle to breathe in our share

Did you hear there’s enough air for us all?

So why cry before we’ve learnt how to crawl?

 

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  June 2020

A Collection, Nearly Time To Go Home

On “Weekly Prompts” their weekend challenge is: Story. Please go and visit their fabulous site by clicking >>HERE…. And below I’m continuing my “Story” about my trip to Philadelphia in May last year, via a collection of my poems and haiku’s …

 

Wet Flowers of May

 

Philadelphia rain

Like a rattling freight train

Wet fat drops

That didn’t stop

Watering flowers on mother’s day

Sharing the liquid joy of May

 

Haiku: Family History

Boxes of photos

Memory lane in my hands

Decades of stories

 

The Golden Pot

I’ve travelled to the end

Of yesterday’s rainbow

I found the golden pot was full

Full of warm hearts

The pot of hearts was overflowing

With ladles full of kindness

And their kindness was a cascading

River of magical rainbows

 

Haiku: We Lost The Sea

Bridges of dreams crossed

The ocean and river spanned

Waters of love found

Ivor Steven (c) May 2019

The Forest Of Doubt

This Saturday, the weekend challenge on Weekly Prompts is: Walkabout. Please go over and visit their fabulous site by clicking >> HERE.  And below is my response their prompt.

 

The Forest Of Doubt

 

Tonight, after dusk

I’ll be in the dark forest of Doubt

On a mystical walkabout

To find those elusive faeries

With their wings of mysterious star-dust

And I shall fill my empty pockets

Ready for Mothers Day tomorrow

Whereupon I’ll spread the magical sparkles

One handful on my mother’s headstone

The second one on my wife’s grave site

And as the same as other years gone by

For us, the faeries willing share their night

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  May 2020

We’re All Here As One

In this week’s Wednesday challenge “Weekly Prompts” have chosen a very important word for the time we are living in : VULNERABILITY. Please go and visit “Weekly Prompts” site by clicking >>HERE.  Yes we are definitely living in vulnerable times of isolation and distancing. My poem below is about staying connected via our websites. And Hanna Kah’s website platform, is a good example of putting your talents out there, for everyone to enjoy… Here’s the link to their site > https://www.culture-y.com/  , and for an added bonus, if you click onto their site, and click ‘Home’, and then click on the video on their Header Page, you’ll get a video show of Hanna Kah’s live performance, from in her lounge-room studio…. please enjoy the show….

 

We’re All Here, As One

 

Mid afternoon

Time for a cuppa and cake

In the safety

Of my writing haven

Sheltering under the verandah

Listening to Hanna Kay’s music

Via a direct connection to Germany

Playing songs from her lounge-room

All the way to my courtyard

 

I’m all alone here

However, I’m sharing all of my words

To all of you readers

From all around the world

We’re all at a distance apart

But we’re all here, as one

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  April 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Old Book Shuts, a New Door Opens

This weekend the challenge from “Weekly Prompts” is: Up and Down. Please go over and visit their fabulous site by clicking >>Here .    My response below is a poem about, the ‘downs and ups’ of our worlds situation at the moment….

 

An Old Book Shuts, a New Door Opens

 

Today I question myself

What do I see?

Upon my worlds’ lower shelf

There! An open wider drawer

Containing a treasure chest

A vast crater of potential

 

An orb with a mystical two piece door

The doors’ bottom half’s pale blue

Like yesterday’s fading blue moon

A book of old testaments

 

The doors’ top half’s bright yellow

A gateway of gilded gold

The book of tomorrow’s future

The new prophecy of days under the sun

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)

 

 

Sage Bush At Guard Tower Twelve(Revised)

This week’s Wednesday Challenge on the “Weekly Prompts” site is the word BOUNDARIES. Please go over and visit their fabulous site by clicking >>HERE  . Below is my poem about the biggest social boundary every put in place on this planet !!

 

Sage Bush At Guard Tower Twelve

 

I’ve been on the run for weeks

Heading towards the Great Wall

From atop this steep hill

My nose tells me, I’m close

And I smell that distinctive sage aroma

Knowing, the sage bush is nearby

Below the gateway to guard tower twelve

My old bones shake and shiver

The Mongolians are closing quickly

Spears and arrows aquiver

 

Fear grips me, and I crawl low

Fingers grasping this granite boundary

Block after block, of the giant blockade

Frightened, I’m too scared to fall

Onto those deadly steel blades

And cold rugged rocks below

I clamber higher, step after step

Finally there above, I see my wish

The flowering sage bush

Mauve blooms bowing in the breeze

My chest sighs and heaves

I clear my lungs, and scream

Soon I’ll be free, as I see

Near the sage bush at guard tower twelve

The Emperor’s warriors, my reprieve

Saved, I fill the Royal message bag with sage leaves

 

 

Ivor Steven (c)  April 2020.